Mythology and Folklore

For the first section of reading I chose part A of Arabian Nights , which is told by Andrew Lang. I chose this because portions of it relate to my storybook topic. I think that the organization of this set of stories is pretty unique, and resembles the movie Inception , considering that it is a story within a story within a story. What most people think of when they hear the term 'genie', obtained from needpix ) The first story- the story of Scheherazade really captured my attention. I thought that it was a very interesting concept that the main character, Scheherazade, essentially tricked the antagonist of the story, the Sultan, into keeping her alive day after day. I think that adding a modern twist would be an interesting way to retell this story in my own words. Perhaps, instead of Scheherazade waiting to finish the story each morning, she and her husband could be watching a television series that they are engrossed in. Each night, they watch an episode, and she convinces h...

For my storybook, I plan to explore how certain mythological creatures are portrayed in popular culture. The primary way in which I plan to explore this is through the popular television show Supernatural . Some of the possible mythological creatures I want to explore are the Djinn (or genie), Tricksters, Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, Changelings, and possibly simple ghosts.  I think I will re-watch a handful of Supernatural  episodes as part of my research, including "What Is and What Should Never Be", "The Kids Are Alright", "Tall Tales", and "Live Free or Twihard".  As of right now, I think that my storybook will be more like separate stories and ideas rather than one intertwining story.

  Mythology and Folklore Portfolio (Image Credit: pxhere )

For my storybook, I would like to explore the similarities and differences between the original mythology stories and those that are used in popular television. Specifically, I was thinking about how the creatures and myths are portrayed in the popular television show Supernatural . I chose this show because the whole premise of it is supernatural creatures and myths, so you would think they did their research and made it as accurate as possible. I would like to pursue this by finding episodes of the show that focus on one specific supernatural creature or myth, and watching it. After watching it I would read the original myth and see how the two compare.  One possible example is the Djinn, or Jinn, or Genie. Season 2, episode 20 of Supernatural is titled "What Is and What Should Never Be". It explores the Winchester brothers hunting a Djinn, or supernatural creature that will fulfill your greatest wish. It shows that sometimes what we wish for isn't all that it's cr...

Current version at  my portfolio name is Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Once, long ago, I had heard rumors of a young mortal girl in the village of Maeonia who thought that she was the most skilled weaver to have ever lived. She went by the name Arachne, and -to be quite frank- was nothing all that special- the definition of a mere mortal. She did not come from a noble family, nor did she have much money. She was good at weaving, I will give her that, but definitely not good enough for her to claim that no one else could compete with her. As you likely already know, I myself am quite skilled in the art of weaving. I can depict beautiful scenes with the yarn in a fraction of the time that it would take most mortals. One day, I decided that I had had enough of her attitude. So I left my home on Olympus and went to pay Arachne a little visit. Of course, I could not let her know who I was before I challenged her, as anyone with a brain would refuse such an unfairly weighted game. ...

I really enjoyed all of the stories about Persephone and Hades , as well as all of the stories about Arachne . Both of these stories are taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses, which was translated by Tony Kline. Both of these are stories I have heard before, but catch my attention every time nonetheless. Because they always catch my attention, I think that these would be very interesting stories to retell in a more modern way. I like that all of these stories focus a lot on imagery and setting of the scene. For the stories of Persephone and Hades, I would use more modern language, and spend some more time introducing the characters. I kept getting confused about who was who and where they fit into the story. A big part of the reason I kept getting confused about the characters is the fact that they are using their Roman names. I would probably change it to their Greek names. For the stories of Arachne and her confrontation with Minerva, I would consider telling the story in a much more m...

I really enjoyed the story about tricksters; The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal by Joseph Jacobs. I enjoy stories about tricksters and other mischievous creatures. I really like how the author slowly leads the reader to the realization of what is about to happen before it is officially revealed. It was a little bit confusing at times since it was written in a fairly modern style, yet some parts utilized older language. I think it would be interesting to have a version that is a bit more focused on the internal dialogue of the jackal. I also think it would be interesting to discover what happens next, like does the jackal then threaten or eat the Brahman?  I also enjoyed the fairy tale; The Three Roses by Josef Baudis. It was very reminiscent of The Beauty and the Beast, with a bit of a twist. When I was reading the story, I thought that it would be fun to have a surprising twist at the end, such as the mother giving the basilisk one of her other daughters that had demanded ma...